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I need help reading the grey seal on this painting attributed to Kano Tan'yu (red seal and signature). Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

This grey seal is definitely odd! To begin with, it is back to front, which could only be achieved if it was printed onto the back of the painting/print and the ink has bled through the paper.

Secondly, it is lying on its side, and should be rotated 90 degrees clockwise.

Thirdly, the legend reads SAI KOKU or Nishitani (which I presume is a Japanese family name) then a character I have not yet read, and finally the character Zo, which means storehouse and is often used to name collections.

But the mystery remains - how is it possible for the seal to be back to front and printed on the face of the painting/print?

mikeoz

Looks like it's supposed to be "collection of Nishitani X". where X is Nishitani's given name which I don't know the Japanese for. the seal is turned 90 degrees to the left however, which I've never seen before.

I inverted and turned the image of the seal. I think that it could be read as ‘aratame zô Nishitani’ (改蔵西谷), which can be translated as ‘certified Nishitani collection’. For the ‘aratame’/'kai' character in seal script cfr the additional image and link.

I was wondering if all this could refer to Nishitani Kisui (西谷淇水, 1824-91), a famous Kyoto instructor who was also very active in artistic circles.

Guy





URL Title :Etymology

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